5.2.14 was the last day of session and there’s still no relief in site for 760,000 uninsured!

The Florida legislature’s failure to expand healthcare coverage has had lethal consequences for many hardworking Floridians. It’s time we hold them accountable for playing politics with people’s lives.

Community members in Miami, West Palm Beach, and Tampa went to House District offices to let reps know that We WILL remember in November. If they don’t expand healthcare, they will lose their chair.

TALLAHASSEE – A high-profile healthcare bill moving through the Florida House could strip the Miami-Dade County Commission of its authority to make the final decision on labor union contracts at the county’s public hospital system. The bill originally sought to create new rules for trauma centers, allow skilled nurses to practice independent of physicians, and pave the way for hospitals to use virtual healthcare services. But last week, a lawmaker from Central Florida added language weakening the role of county commissions in overseeing public health trusts. There’s only one public health trust in Florida: the independent body that governs Jackson Health System.

Odd that a Rep. from Central FL care about politics of Miami hospital. Set him straight @mbileca. Where do you stand? #AparezcaBileca

@mbileca if Miami-Dade is financially responsible for Jackson, shouldn’t our commission have the final say on labor contracts? #AparezcaBileca

@mbileca show up for Jackson! #AparezcaBileca

#AparezcaBileca #SaveJackson

]]>http://onemiaminow.org/2014/04/16/twitterbomb-mbileca-to-support-democratic-process/feed/0Charlene Dill did not have to diehttp://onemiaminow.org/2014/04/11/charlene-dill-did-not-have-to-die/
http://onemiaminow.org/2014/04/11/charlene-dill-did-not-have-to-die/#commentsFri, 11 Apr 2014 20:19:56 +0000http://onemiaminow.org/?p=2257

Woolrich was aware that Dill was trying to get refills on her medication but not that she had become ill. Dill had been bumped off Medicaid because she was making too much money – an estimated $9,000 a year – and had yet to be able to afford a divorce, which might have bettered her chances. A message to Woolrich from a distant relative confirmed that Dill would not be showing up that Friday because she had passed away, but even that might not have happened if Dill’s cell phone hadn’t lit up while she lay prostrate on that Kissimmee floor. The people to whom Dill was peddling vacuums noticed the phone and called her relatives, says Woolrich, telling them, “There’s a girl lying on our floor. We don’t know who she is.”

These are the people in the coverage gap – the unknowns, the single mothers, the not-quite-retired – the unnamed 750,000 Floridians who are suffering while legislators in Tallahassee refuse to address the issue in this year’s legislative session, which ends on May 2. The working poor – who used to be the middle class – are on a crash course with disaster for no logical reason. Charlene Dill, at the age of 32, didn’t have to die.

]]>http://onemiaminow.org/2014/04/11/charlene-dill-did-not-have-to-die/feed/0Miami Joins the National Fight for $15http://onemiaminow.org/2014/03/18/video-miami-joins-the-national-fight-for-15/
http://onemiaminow.org/2014/03/18/video-miami-joins-the-national-fight-for-15/#commentsTue, 18 Mar 2014 17:53:27 +0000http://onemiaminow.org/?p=2248Fast Food Workers in Miami held a press conference at a local McDonalds to discuss the importance of raising the minimum wage and join the national “Fighting for $15″ movement.

Workers are uniting to raise their wages, lift their families out of poverty, and the right to organize a union without retaliation.

For the first time in Miami workers are coming out from the shadows and ready to talk. They need your support to make this happen.

We need to get our economy moving again, and fast-food workers are leading the way. They’ve gone on strike, fueling a national debate on income inequality and creating momentum to raise wages.

The fast food industry is booming. McDonalds and Burger King are part of a $200 billion industry. McDonald’s made a $5.5 billion profit in 2012 alone. These companies should pay their hard-working employees enough to cover the necessities and support their families, and not force taxpayers to shoulder the burden.

]]>http://onemiaminow.org/2014/03/18/video-miami-joins-the-national-fight-for-15/feed/0Awake The State Miamihttp://onemiaminow.org/2014/03/07/awake-the-state-miami/
http://onemiaminow.org/2014/03/07/awake-the-state-miami/#commentsFri, 07 Mar 2014 17:49:40 +0000http://onemiaminow.org/?p=2232On March 4th, community members and leaders went to Commissioner Erik Fresen’s office to take a stand! We stood united against extremism and stood for a state that works for everyone, where everyone pays their fair share, and we all play on a level playing field. Gov. Scott and extremists in Tallahassee have created an economy that works for the wealthy and cuts away at the middle class. #AwakeFL

Francisco Diaz, an out-of-work carpenter who lives in Homestead, says he wants to give a pen to President Obama to sign an executive order stopping deportations, and then urge Congress to pass legislation… Read more here.

]]>http://onemiaminow.org/2014/02/24/florida-immigrant-to-ride-bike-to-d-c-in-name-of-immigration-reform/feed/0Infographic: Rick Scott’s Silence on Healthcare Is Deadlyhttp://onemiaminow.org/2014/02/20/rick-scotts-silence-on-healthcare-is-deadly/
http://onemiaminow.org/2014/02/20/rick-scotts-silence-on-healthcare-is-deadly/#commentsThu, 20 Feb 2014 19:41:39 +0000http://onemiaminow.org/?p=2219
]]>http://onemiaminow.org/2014/02/20/rick-scotts-silence-on-healthcare-is-deadly/feed/0VIDEO: Marco Rubio Ignores Miami Dade College Student’s plea for a Living Wagehttp://onemiaminow.org/2014/02/14/community-members-and-students-confront-marco-rubio-at-miami-dade-college/
http://onemiaminow.org/2014/02/14/community-members-and-students-confront-marco-rubio-at-miami-dade-college/#commentsFri, 14 Feb 2014 14:34:11 +0000http://onemiaminow.org/?p=2208On 2/10/14 community members and students confronted Marco Rubio while he gave a speech about education at Miami Dade College. We agree that education is important, but millions in our communities are struggling to get by everyday on poverty wages.

How are any of Rubio’s solutions helping those that make poverty wages RIGHT NOW in their struggle to keep afloat? Things have to change. The people need a living wage.

“This opportunity to negotiate for better pay, meaningful benefits and for respect and a voice in the workplace was the reason why we fought to organize a union,” said Nicole Berry.

MIAMI, FL—A majority of food service workers at the University of Miami have voted to join 32BJ SEIU and authorize the union to represent them when they begin negotiating a first contract with Chartwells Dining Services, UM’s food service contractor.

Nicole Berry, 34, who has worked at UM for over four years, said she was happy.

“This opportunity to negotiate for better pay, meaningful benefits and for respect and a voice in the workplace was the reason why we fought to organize a union,” she said.

Arbitrator Robert Hoffman certified the card check result bringing the 321 workers at cafeterias and dining halls around the university into the union early Friday evening.

“This is truly a great victory for the UM workers, new members of 32BJ who are set to bargain their first contract,” Hill said. “By organizing a union, they chose to bargain poverty jobs into good jobs.”

The workers, mostly African Americans who make as little as $9.31 an hour or about $10,000 a year, wanted a simple, fair process to begin bargaining for the opportunity to earn a living wage, more meaningful benefits, and dignity and respect in the workplace. Workers often have to rely on public subsidies for food, health care, housing and cash support in order to live on what they make working at the University of Miami.

Last week, they won that right when Chartwells agreed to a card check process to certify that they wanted 32BJ SEIU as their union. After a long contentious campaign to win their union, The workers were supported by prominent community leaders and clergy who joined with students and faculty to demand that University president Donna Shalala stop the contractor’s attempts to stop the union drive.

“Victory!” said an overjoyed Giovanna Pompele, a UM professor who helped collect over 300 faculty signatures on a petition to Shalala, asking her to intervene on behalf of the workers. “We know now our food workers will have the opportunity to bargain for better pay and have a shot at decent working conditions.”

With more than 125,000 members, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property service union in the country.

]]>http://onemiaminow.org/2013/05/05/university-of-miami-cafeteria-workers-win-long-hard-fight-to-join-32bj-seiu/feed/0“Let us stand with a greater determination…we CANE do better!”http://onemiaminow.org/2013/04/02/let-us-stand-with-a-greater-determination-we-cane-do-better/
http://onemiaminow.org/2013/04/02/let-us-stand-with-a-greater-determination-we-cane-do-better/#commentsTue, 02 Apr 2013 20:27:51 +0000http://onemiaminow.org/?p=2159For four consecutive years, the University of Miami has been named one of America’s top 50 colleges and number one in Florida by U.S.News & World Report. With over 180 majors and programs, it has a nine decade history of excellence.

But behind the scenes, the treatment of its food service workers does not match that high standard. They are at-will employees who can be fired by their firm Chartwells with no notice for any reason or no reason at all.

Chartwells is contracted to provide food service work for more than 200 US colleges. Its revenues exceeded $24 billion dollars in 2011. Nevertheless, the company chooses not to offer any job security or protections to the cooks, cashiers andother workers who fuel college kids across the country.

On April 4th 2013, supporters of the food service work will join forces on the UM campus in Coral Gables to demand an end to poverty jobs at the university and commemorate the death of Martin Luther King’s. They will mark the significance of his legacy regarding workers like dining hall worker Ms. Betty Asbury and dishwasher Alfredo Suarez.

In a speech supporting striking sanitation workers the day before his assassination, Dr. King recognized the importance of maintaining unity. He referred to the parable of the Good Samaritan. Although it takes courage and deep empathy to risk your own comfort and help a stranger but it’s undeniably the right thing to do. And as we all struggle through tough economic times, none of us are strangers to job insecurity.

“Let us stand with a greater determination,” he said. “And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.”